Luzira prison inmates. Photo credit: Universal Journal Review
The public accounts committee of parliament has discovered that Uganda prison Authority inflated food cost for inmates and added 4.5 billion shillings which they failed to explain before the committee. Members of Parliament on the committee chaired by Alice Alaso, while meeting the officials from prison authority led by the Uganda prison service undersecretary Simon Kimono, noted that the prison authority continued to incur arrears in terms of payables for inmates food.
The woman member of parliament for Gomba district Nakato Kyabangi said that the increase in payables for inmates food by the prison authority could have been deliberate since prisons are growing food for inmates.
She said that there could be some people benefiting from delayed clearance of food suppliers to prison for inmates.
MPs observed that inmates take two meals a day yet they are supposed to have three meals; they also doubted the hygiene of the place where part of the food is kept .
The under secretary in the Uganda prison service Simon Kimono said that the increase in payables was a result of demand for food items among others. Uganda prison has 45000 inmates which require 50 billion shillings for food but for this financial year only 32billion was released and 3000 shillings is spent on the meals of each inmate.